For parents and carers

Return Home Interviews

Missing People is currently commissioned to conduct return home interviews with children and young people across Hertfordshire.

A return home interview provides a child or young person with a confidential space to talk about their missing episode. The space allows them to talk about anything which may be worrying them or anything they feel they cannot tell anyone else. A child or young person may feel as though they need support but are not sure where to go to get help , Missing People is there to listen, to be a helping hand and provide a voice for children and young people to help get them the support they need.

The Department for Education defines return interviews as ‘in-depth discussions’ and their purpose is to ‘identify and deal with any harm the child has suffered… understand and try to address the reasons why the child or young person ran away, help the child feel safe and understand that they have options to prevent repeat instances of them running away [and] provide them with information on how to stay safe if they run away again, including helpline numbers’ (DfE, 2014:15).

For parents and carers

You or your child may have been contacted by one of our team, offering them a return home interview. We have been in contact because we have received a referral for your child when they were reported missing.

A return home interview is an opportunity for a child to talk about their experience while they were away from home and gives them a chance to talk to an independent organisation in a confidential space. We listen in a non-judgmental way and try to ensure your child understands what the risks are when away from home, we can then signpost them into any other services that may be able to offer help and support.

Missing People works alongside local authorities and the police to ensure that every young person who is referred to us, is offered the opportunity to talk through with us what about happened while they were away.

If you have any questions or if you would like to talk through your options, you can call or text our free 24/7 confidential helpline on 116 000.

If you like to speak to the team directly, please call our return home interview team on 020 8392 4525 between 09:00 – 17:00.